17 Lifestyle Fanatics Share Their Secrets to Success

Too many people settle for less than they deserve in life. This has lead to a majority of people reporting they are not happy. If we're going to change this, (and if we respect human life, we better) it's time to look for different ways of doing things.

This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Too many people settle for less than they deserve in life. This has lead to a majority of people reporting they are not happy. If we're going to change this, (and if we respect human life, we better) it's time to look for different ways of doing things. Seventeen successful lifestyle fanatics would like to share how they each created a passionate life of freedom.

1. Don't let your circumstances be an excuse. Even if you are barely scraping by financially, working a job and have kids, you can still start a business that lets you live the life of your dreams.-- Scottie Hobbs, Elite Top 10 Beachbody Coach

2. Recognize the value of your creative endeavors. If your passion involves an artistic endeavor, you don't have to settle for being broke. Stop calling yourself a "starving artist." Stop "suffering" for your art. Recognize the immense value your creative endeavors bring to the world, create a way to get paid for it, and pursue your dream. -- Bob Baker​, author of the Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook

3. Stop worrying about failing. Failure is great. It's part of the process. It's just an event. Failure does not define you unless you let it. When you fail, just get up and move on. -- Jeet Banarjee, founder of Visionary Media Group & TEDx Speaker

4. Stop thinking stuff will make you happy. When you get caught up in accumulating nice cars, a house in the Hamptons and lots of stuff, it becomes a prison because you have to work more and more to pay for the stuff that doesn't make you any happier anyway. -- Jordan Harbinger, co-founder of The Art of Charm

5. Be consistent. Consistently doing the same thing over and over again is how you build something. Be consistent and patiently wait for it to grow. At first you may not see any results, but keep going and you'll see the small things you've done add up to something bigger. -- Jonathan Taylor, host of The Beginner Internet Business Podcast

6. Do something that scares you. If you are afraid of doing something, do it. Doing something you are afraid of will move you toward the lifestyle you desire. -- Loralee Hutton, author of Info Product Complete

7. Build strong relationships Relationships with other people help you get things done. When you help or add value to other people, they are willing and even excited to help you out when you need it. Be strategic about helping other people. -- Nick Unsworth, host of Life on Fire TV

8. Create passive income streams. You need freedom to feed your passions, and that comes from passive income streams. Plan strategically and invest the money from your current job into passive income streams, the first being your own business that supports the lifestyle you want. -- Ryan Daniel Moran, founder of Freedom Fast Lane

9. Start now. The biggest regret most people have about pursuing what they want is not starting sooner. Well, what's wrong with today? Start now, and tomorrow, you won't have that regret! -- Travis Sherry, world traveler and host of #1 travel podcast

10. Don't strive for perfection. Don't get bogged down in details and making everything perfect. Know when good enough is good enough. An endless pursuit of perfection will get you nowhere. -- Nick Loper, Chief Side Hustler at Side Hustle Nation

11. Set a time budget. Figure out how much time you can devote to pursing your business and stick to it. Everyone has to work around the realities of their lives, so work with what you have. Figure out how much time you can devote and then devote that time. -- Scott Fox, founder of Click Millionaires

12. Be OK with hearing "no." When you're pursuing something big, you'll ask people to buy from you, to partner with you or any number of things. Sometimes they will say yes, sometimes they will say no. When they say no, it usually has more to do with their personal or business situation and has nothing to do with you. -- Jason Kanigan, president of Sales On Fire

13. Don't settle for mediocrity. If you keep telling yourself the next job, the next promotion, the next whatever will be better, you'll never thrive. You'll settle for mediocrity. Go after what you want. -- Sheri Fink, author and founder of "The Whimsical World of Sheri Fink" children's brand

14. Surround yourself with excellence. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and who have achieved success. They succeeded for a reason, and there is probably something you can learn from them. -- Christina Daves, serial entrepreneur

15. Don't life a life of regrets. We don't know how much time we have left. Take a hard look at your life and ask what you would want to do differently. Now do it. -- Justin Brokop, coach

16. Hustle. Success takes a lot of hard work. You have to get up and do the work every single day. Don't be afraid to try something new and different.-- Mike Kawula, entrepreneur and INC 500 Award Winner

17. Stop listening to other people. Each week for over a year, I've interviewed successful lifestyle fanatics who rejected the common script for how life is "supposed" to be and created a passionate life of freedom. Each of them have a different idea of what that means, but they all have one thing in common: They decided what they wanted out of life and created it. If you want to create the life of your dreams, you have to stop listening to the advice of people who who are in the majority and listen to the ones who are happy. -- Jeff Steinmann, lifestyle fanatic